The Magic of Festival
Interview with Moscato
It ended the 66° Film Festival of Venice between surprises and big confirmations.
The 2009 edition of the Festival has, in fact, been talked about for the very colourful Red Carpets, the quality films and a perfect organization.
Luxgallery met David Moscato, Managing Director of the Universal Pictures Italia, division of Nbc Universal, that was, for the first time, at the Festival of Venice, and came back with many new proposals.
How was this 66° Film Festival of Venice?
For Universal I’d say very good.
On 7th September we presented a documentary film, “Hollywood on Tevere”, that Studio Universal made in co-production with Istituto Luce.
A film written and directed by the journalist Marco Spagnoli who tells about thirty years of history of world film through archive pictures.From “Roman Holiday” to “Ben Hur”, through “Cleopatra” making of Italy, Rome and Cinecittà the epicentre of the Hollywood production in Europe and the world.
How was the response of public and critics?
I’d say very positive. As far as I could perceive in the room at the end of the projection and also by reading the newspapers the following days I think that the documentary was appreciated.
For Universal Pictures, which will take care of the dvd distribution as well, this has been an extraordinary opportunity to present on the market a product created on the contents, a way to bring back the attention on what Italy has represented in the History of world Cinema.
Thanks to the vintage documents and films, preserved by the Istituto Luce, we went through 1950s-60s-70s, a time when the American majors chose Rome, and generally our country, as privileged industry to produce their movies.
Thus, we tried to pay tribute to a very important time and Marco Spagnoli managed not to create a nostalgic film, but even almost political.
What did this festival represent for this market?
The festival is mainly an occasion to see films that you wouldn’t see otherwise.
Moreover, the program of this edition was really well structured, alternating films connected to the large retailers to independent pearls and in general it presented exciting films.
As a spectator I can say that “The big dream” (film directed by Michele Placido and distributed by Medusa, editor’s note) was very touching.
Generally, I can say that the Lido and the magic of Venice during the Festival have really charmed me.
On what will Universal Pictures Italia focus in the next months? What are your next challenges?
For Home Video the fall represents a very hot season from the point of view what will be issued and this year as well we are working on very interesting projects.
The market is definitely not easy, the problem of piracy is on the agenda and in Italy there is no real law safeguarding the cinema.
On our side we have two responsibilities: the first is to offer quality, serious and original products and the second is to place them where the client wants them.
Other very important collateral activities are the advertising through radio and TV publicity campaigns, as well as the combination DVD-Cinema or through competitions.
Our biggest challenge is to spread the message that by buying a DVD, even better if the Blu-ray, you don’t simply buy a film, but you have the chance to feel the protagonist.
To offer something more to the people, to place to their disposal a firm supporting them is much more than a commitment.
Tags: "Roman Holiday”, "The big dream", 66° Film Festival of Venice, “Ben Hur”, “Cleopatra”, “Hollywood on Tevere”, Cinecittà, David Moscato, Hollywood, Istituto Luce, Italy, Marco Spagnoli, Medusa, Michele Placido, Nbc Universal, piracy, Rome, Universal Pictures Italia
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